Following the tradition of the Allman Brothers Band, the Tedeschi Trucks Band has played annual multi-night residencies at the Beacon Theatre for more than a decade. This year, seven shows were booked from September 29 until October 8. The series also includes the Tedeschi Trucks Band’s 50th performance at the venue.
The Tedeschi Trucks Band’s lead guitarist, Derek Trucks, has an even longer history at the Beacon Theatre. Now 43 years old, he joined the Allman Brothers Band when he was 20. The Allman Brothers played the venue more than 250 times.
This year, the Tedeschi Trucks Band shows are significantly different. During the early part of the pandemic lockdown, the 12-member Tedeschi Trucks Band engaged in an unusual creative experiment. The musicians used the 12th century Persian poem “Layla and Majnun” as inspiration for composing their musical parts in a collaborative project. The Tedeschi Trucks Band this year released the result of this endeavor, a four-part studio album set featuring 24 original songs. Each of the four I Am the Moon albums was released in recent months beginning with I. Crescent on June 3, II. Ascension on July 1, III. The Fall on July 29, and IV. Farewell on August 26, each with its own companion film. A boxed set now encompasses the entire project.
I Am the Moon gave the southern roots rockers a plentiful resource of new songs to play at the New York residency. The ever-changing set lists throughout the multi-night residency allowed for much of I Am the Moon to be the centerpiece of the shows. The songs would be played live for the first time.
The first night of the series started with an opening set by Amy Helm. After intermission, the Tedeschi Trucks Band began by introducing live all six songs from I Am The Moon: III. The Fall. Following The Fall, Trucks turned to his roots, with the band covering the instrumental “Les Brers in A Minor,” a piece he previously played live at the same venue as a member of the Allman Brothers Band.
The set continued with Derek and the Dominos’ “Bell Bottom Blues.” The leaders of the Tedeschi Trucks band have a personal connection to that music as well. Trucks’ parents named him after Eric Clapton’s pseudonym on the 1970 album, and vocalist/guitarist Susan Tedeschi was born on the day that the sole Derek and the Dominos studio album was released. The Tedeschi Trucks Band with Trey Anastasio performed all the songs from that album at the Lockn’ Festival in 2019 and released it as a live album in 2021.
This year’s opening night concert continued with bluesy covers and songs from the Tedeschi Trucks Band’s earlier albums. Some of the covers were older than the musicians, as they resourced Dr. John, Taj Mahal, and the Coasters (although Ray Charles is best aligned with “Let’s Go Get Stoned”). With six news songs already played, the Tedeschi Trucks Band performed several older original songs in succession towards the end of the main set.
Throughout the night, the sound was big, with two guitarists, three horns, three backup singers, two drummers, a bassist and a keyboardist. Tedeschi was in fine voice, consistently soulful and graceful. Trucks played most of the extended guitar leads, but Tedeschi was equally as impressive on her leads. While Tedeschi and Trucks were the axis on which the music spun, the other 10 able musicians had frequent moments in the spotlight. Rooted in classic blues and rock, every song featured extended solos by two or more musicians. The concert sounded like a live performance from the 1970s, even though that was the decade in which Tedeschi and Trucks were born. Add to that the Beacon Theatre’s new and exquisite sound system and you have a perfect, timeless concert.
Setlist
- Somehow
- None Above
- Yes We Will
- Gravity
- Emmaline
- Take Me as I Am
- Les Brers in A Minor (The Allman Brothers Band cover)
- Bell Bottom Blues (Derek and the Dominos cover)
- Part of Me
- I Walk on Guilded Splinters (Dr. John cover)
- Do I Look Worried
- It’s So Heavy
- Let Me Get By
- Made Up Mind
Encore
- Leaving Trunk (Taj Mahal cover)
- Let’s Go Get Stoned (The Coasters cover)
